Icejacked

Change of Plan

I sat and ate breakfast, thinking of nothing much, except how unusual it was that Leddicus was so late. He invariably arrived well before me. By the time he wandered in, I had eaten my fruit and muesli, and I was on my second cup of coffee.

“You okay?” I reached for a croissant, but noted his frown.

He sat down opposite me and shrugged. “I think so. I found yesterday a hard day, although I am not sure why.”

I found all this emotional soul searching enormously tedious, but thought I had better at least try to get inside his head, if only to keep him onside. “What was so hard? The walking?” I ventured.

Leddicus gave me a wan smile. “No, no, that was fine. I can’t explain what it is, even to myself.” He reached for the cafetière. I always knew he was distracted when he opted for coffee. “Not sure how you say it in your language. Lost, I think. Yes, that’s it. I think I felt lost, or perhaps I feel I have lost something.” He absentmindedly kept spooning sugar into his coffee. “I don’t know what to think or feel. Nothing was as I expected. I know you showed me things from, as you put it, my time, but it was all strange. And the Christian thing, in that little country, I didn’t get that either. Nothing makes sense to me in your world.”

I didn’t speak for a while. I looked at him in what I hoped was a calm and confident manner, but inside, I was casting around for some words of comfort and trying to keep a lid on my patience. “Sounds hard for you. You must feel quite mixed up,” I said rather lamely. “We could tour around again today and see more of the sites, but we don’t have to. Obviously, you can’t deliver your letters to Caesar’s court. It’s not there anymore. What would you like to do? See more sites? Go shopping in ? It’s your call.”

Without any hesitation, he shook his head. “I think I have seen enough of the stuff from my time.” He slowly stirred his coffee. “It upsets me, confuses me, and makes me afraid and lost. What else could we do?”

My great idea to visit , which I hoped would be fun and fascinating for both of us and especially Leddicus, was turning out to be quite the reverse. Instead, fear and confusion filled him.

“We could go shopping.” I hesitated from expanding on this suggestion, as I saw his quizzical expression. I guess shopping two thousand years ago did not have the broad appeal it did in the twenty-first century. “I originally planned we would be in Rome three days, but as you are not keen, we could go to London earlier.”

A broad smile finally lit up his face, “Yes, that is good. I would like that.”

At last, something had calmed him down. He was so pleased with the idea that he instantly got his appetite back and started lashing butter onto a croissant. As he ate, I explained what I needed to do to make the change of plan happen. I would have to Google cheap flights. The adverts dotted around the hotel indicated that Stanstead rather than Heathrow would be the cheaper option. And, of course, I would need to check with Julie to ensure these new plans would fit in with her schedule.

I wasn’t sure if it were the mention of Julie, but Leddicus, now tucking into a huge bowl of muesli, stopped with his spoon halfway to his mouth, grinned from ear to ear, and nodded. “Yes! Yes! Let’s do all you said.”

“Okay!” I drained my cup. “Give me a couple hours to sort stuff. Can you amuse yourself? I’ll come and get you at about …” I checked my watch. “Midday. Then we’ll grab some lunch and at least have a bit of a wander round modern .”

Leddicus nodded and gave me a genuine smile. “After I finish breakfast, I’ll watch TV.”

At last, I am on the right track.

It didn’t take me long to set up the flights to Stanstead for the next morning.

“Hello, Gerhardt. Nice to hear from you. How is it going in ?” said a chirpy Julie when I phoned her office.

“Not too well. I think Leddicus is suddenly facing reality and feels miserable. He wants to change the plans and come to earlier.”

“Oh, sorry to hear that. Poor guy. When are you coming then? Hope it’s not today. I’m manic.”

“I’ve booked the nine forty to Stanstead tomorrow. Don’t worry about coming to get us. We’ll make our own way. Isn’t Stanstead a bit off the beaten track? So it’s probably a long way from you.”

“No, not at all. Stanstead’s great. Much closer. You should be landing at around midday, yes?”

“Something like that, but, really, it’s fine. We can get a taxi.”

“No, I insist. Hang on. Let me check.” She put the phone down and came back a minute later. “It’s fine. I can rejig my eleven thirty, and I’ll bring forward the hotel booking to tomorrow night.”

“Thanks. That’s great.”

“Oh, yes, remember I mentioned my publicist friend. I’ll check and see if I can fix up a meeting early evening at your hotel. Also, I should also be able to show you around for a while if you like?”

“Well, if you’re sure, thanks for everything.” We said our good-byes, and I sat there bemused. Yet again, Julie had taken over.

No matter what I want to do, I always end up doing what she wants me to do. What is it about her that is so irritatingly compulsive?

The afternoon was pleasant and uneventful. We wandered around the centre, dipping in and out of a variety of shops. Leddicus got some of his old curiosity back and bent my ear with questions about the many strange wonders he encountered. We took an early supper in one of the many restaurants on the bustling Roman streets and then jumped in a taxi back to the hotel. I decided we had done .

“Londonium and Julie tomorrow.” I opened the door to my room. “Breakfast at eight. Can you be packed and ready to leave as soon as we have eaten?”

“I am happy,” said Leddicus as he walked down the corridor to his room.

***

“Eduardo, I have good news.”

“Joseph, I was going to call you later, but the day has been intenso.”

“A meeting is set for tomorrow. I will finally meet our Roman.”

Eduardo pressed the phone to his hear and spoke quietly, “The copy I have received is excellent. I am making good progress. I will e-mail you at length on the issues that need fleshing out.”

Eduardo leaned back in the chair, away from his desk, and tossed a small ball of paper into the wastebasket in the corner. His office was Spartan, but he liked it that way.

“How is Marguerite?”

“She continues to nag me to get air-conditioning, but still I resist.”

Joseph chuckled. “Still as stubborn as ever.”

“What can I say?”

“I look forward to your e-mail and the suggestion of a date when we can have dinner.”

Eduardo smiled thinly. “Yes, I should be over in about three months unless the circumstances change.”

“I will call you in a few days when I see how things are panning out.”

“Until then, ciao.”